A particular moslem? yesOne that we're likely to have heard of? Some of you will have - likely you JohnMohammed? Saladin? No to bothIs it relevant who "they" are? YesJust people in general? YopeAll people who were likely to express an opinion on who did it? No but most

The "it" the german does, is it something from everyday-life? YopeLike cooking a meal? A bit more specialist than thatIs the german the only one who does "it"? Good question - I'm not certain - Maybe not but he is the best at it

The german can do something very fast? Yes but that could be very misleadingA scot said that it can't be done at all? YesIs music involved? NoIs the internet involved? Not directly (but you can learn about it all from the internet)

Well, I don't know too much about chess, I only play 'Go' occasionally. But I seem to give the impression that I like chess, given the number of people who offered me a chessboard...Are the statements about the match human versus machine?

So the 'it' of your statement refers to: to construct a chess machine/computer able to beat a human? to beat the world champion? Is the german working on the Deep Fritz chess computer (is it called like this)?

Well, I've seen pictures of that purported 18th century chess-playing robot. Very good - what does it look like?So is the 'it' "to create a robot that can play chess"? No (not quite but almost)Or "to create a machine that can play chess"? No (not quite but almost)

Perhaps the scotsman was some pioneer in robotics/computers: Charles Babbage? Good idea but no

Does the German guy own a factory? No

You are almost there - don't give up. I am tempted to say that you have done enough but you might want the satisfaction of deciding what "it" is by thinking about the picture you have seen

Oh, I don't remember exactly what the picture was like, it was like 15 years ago when I was 13 and read some book about chess. But as I recall the general explaination about how the thing worked was that some good chess player was sitting hidden in a box below the chess board, and he would be able to see or know the movements of the pieces somehow (don't ask me how) and then he would control from there a arabianish doll-like quasi-robot figure which would play the pieces. But I may remember it wrongly. But I'm sure the picture is to be found just a google-search away from here...

And of course the player behind this magic-trick robot would have had to be pretty good at the game -- as I remembered it the 'robot' became pretty famous since it had beaten some really good players.

Perhaps the thing that the scotsman thought could never be done was to beat a machine at chess?

In the 18th century they believed a Moslem did it In the 20th century a Scot said it could never be done In the 21st century a German does it regularly

Oh, I don't remember exactly what the picture was like, it was like 15 years ago when I was 13 and read some book about chess. But as I recall the general explaination about how the thing worked was that some good chess player was sitting hidden in a box below the chess board, and he would be able to see or know the movements of the pieces somehow (don't ask me how) and then he would control from there a arabianish doll-like quasi-robot figure which would play the pieces. But I may remember it wrongly You have a very good memory!

But I'm sure the picture is to be found just a google-search away from here... Try this one….

And of course the player behind this magic-trick robot would have had to be pretty good at the game -- as I remembered it the 'robot' became pretty famous since it had beaten some really good players. 100%

Perhaps the thing that the scotsman thought could never be done was to beat a machine at chess? Try adjusting that equation slightly

And perhaps the German guy is you? In one respect I wish it was but the only problem is that I am English born and bred, oh, and also the fact that....

They thought a moslem built a machine that can beat a human in chess. (But it was a fake) A scotsman said that it is impossible that a machine beats a human in chess. An a German builts such machines regularly? That is where my idea starts to sound strange.

Is the Moslem human? adult? male? Or is the Moslem=the Turk=the Chess-playing Automaton "Turk"?

If the latter, adjust the equation as follows: In the 18th century they thought a chess-playing-machine, "the Turk", could beat a human being? Sometime in the 20th century some scotsman though a chess-playing machine would never beat a human being? And now in the 21th century... etc.

Or perhaps exchange "human chess grandmaster" for "human being" in the above.

One more step: do you mean the fact that the German is a computer, Deep Fritz or Deep Blue or something? Yes

Or shall we figure out who the Scot is too? If you can do that you'd be very clever / knowledgable! I don't expect you to - it's the least well known part of the puzzle (unless you are a chess nerd like me). I'll spoyle later